Bypassing Quadruple OT Win

Christmas hams were cooked to perfection, babies grew into toddlerhood, and every railing inside the United Center received a fresh coat of paint, which dried completely.  Okay, not really, but those were the most creative superlatives I could come up with to describe the longevity game against the Detroit Pistons my dad and I saw Friday.  For the first time since March 16, 1984, the Bulls played a quadruple-overtime game.  They won that game in Portland, but 31 years later, they lost 147-144, snapping a four-game winning streak.

Andre Drummond was one of three Pistons to foul out in the final overtime, but not before putting up a monster line of 33 points and 21 rebounds.  Reggie Jackson was similarly monstrous with 31 points and 13 assists.  Marcus Morris scored 20 before leaving the game with six fouls.  Rounding out Detroit’s key scoring were Ersan Ilyasova with 18, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 17 and the fouled-out Stanley Johnson with 16.

The Bulls had three guys score at least 30 points in a game for the first time since Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Toni Kukoc did it on Dec. 17, 1996.  Jimmy Butler had a career-high 43 points, but missed the game-tying 3-pointer that would have sent it to an unprecedented fifth overtime.  Derrick Rose put up a season-high 34 on a career-high 34 field-goal attempts.  Pau Gasol’s 30 made him the oldest Bull to reach that plateau in a game at 35 years, 165 days, besting when Jordan scored 45 in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals.

You can’t argue these stats would likely be much smaller had this game ended in regulation. It’s also difficult to debate this as anything but an exciting game that came down to one final shot.  But above all, people should be in agreement that the Bulls missed their opportunities when they had them.  And that came back to hurt as this marathon dragged on.

Guys were tired and it showed when the Pistons scored seven unanswered to begin the last overtime.  The previous three extra sessions never saw a lead like that from either team, but they did see multi-possession leads evaporate within seconds.  The Bulls were victims in two of them.  Some might think this all could have been avoided if Rose had done more than just let the clock run down in regulation before forcing a stepback jumper.

More than anything else, the Bulls were lacking on defense, a trend more familiar than they’d like to admit.  The Pistons had just 11 turnovers in 68 minutes, won more battles for loose balls, got to the paint with ease and converted from there most of the time.  It’s a real indictment on your team when the little things are making the difference, even in a game like this.  It happened a lot in regulation as well and would have ended it a lot sooner had the Pistons shot better than 58.7 percent from the free-throw line.

It’s still rather sickening that we have to say poor defense was part of yet another loss, especially one like this.  These players, many of whom lived through the days when defense was put first and offense was a premium, need to rediscover what made those teams from earlier in this decade such a force.  They’re still a decent team, but not exactly striking fear into many opponents’ hearts right now.  We keep waiting for that turning point where they rediscover it, but as the season goes on, we wonder if it’s ever going to happen.

The Bulls won’t have much time to recover because they get right back at it Saturday against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.  The travel and having to play another game with such a quick turnaround could prove taxing.  We’ll be happy if they can pull off a miracle, but the odds are stacked against them.  Then again, we never know which team is going to show up, so the uncertainty will continue.